


Lavender

by sophiejo



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Bruce Banner & Tony Stark Friendship, Bucky Barnes Feels, Bucky Barnes Needs a Hug, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Minor Character Death, Multi, Tony Stark Has A Heart
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-11
Updated: 2020-07-11
Packaged: 2021-03-04 22:14:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,024
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25193743
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sophiejo/pseuds/sophiejo
Summary: It is funny what memories your brain chooses to keep accessible to you. The way you could forget something so important like a person's name, but remember something so simple like the look of a tree from a road trip 5 years ago. Or how a certain smell can be attached to a certain memory, good or bad, and how that certain memory can make you either adore or loathe that smell.James hated the smell of lavender.
Relationships: Bruce Banner & Tony Stark, Clint Barton/Natasha Romanov, James "Bucky" Barnes & Steve Rogers, James "Bucky" Barnes/Tony Stark
Kudos: 27





	Lavender

It is funny what memories your brain chooses to keep accessible to you. The way you could forget something so important like a person's name, but remember something so simple like the look of a tree from a road trip 5 years ago. Or how a certain smell can be attached to a certain memory, good or bad, and how that certain memory can make you either adore or loathe that smell.

James hated the smell of lavender.

James Buchanan Barnes used to be extremely popular. Not only was he insanely good looking, he was also best friends with the captain of the football team, Steve Rogers. The two had known each other for as long as they could remember. Growing up as neighbours, in healthy homes, both were privileged enough to have loving families. James and Steve played the part of the “cool kids” exceptionally well. They mastered football, mucked up, laughed at the nerds, dated girls, partied hard and barely studied. But no matter how popular Steve got, coming from a Christian family, he would always try to stay as polite as possible. This was why he was known as the golden boy of the school. Everyone loved Steve, even the nerds he occasionally laughed at, he was easily forgiven. James was less polite and looking back he would regret the way he treated people. The so-called “losers” of the school. He did not give a fuck back then, he was selfish and having fun. All that he cared about was his reputation, the girls he was dating, parties and alcohol. Oh and of course, football!

That was until the accident.

One miserable, stormy night, James and his mother were on their way home from a night out. His mother was a huge Meryl Streep fan and there was a screening of ‘Mamma Mia’ at their local cinema. It was an event aimed for women wanting a girls night, but James’ mum did not have a lot of girl friends and he did not want her going alone, so they made it a mother and son bonding night. By the time the film had finished and it was time to head home, the weather had gone from sunny to torrential rain. From day to night. It was almost impossible to see out the windows and James felt nervous and uncomfortable from the very moment the vehicle’s ignition started. His mother drove cautiously and they left the radio off so she could concentrate better...

That night he lost his whole arm.

James loved his mum. Being an only child and with his father working longer hours, the house was mostly occupied with just the two of them. This made him a total mummy's boy. She would call him ‘Bambi’ or ‘James’ but never ‘Bucky’. She hated his cocky footballer friends and abrasive girlfriends, all of whom called him ‘Bucky’. Everything about that nickname made her cringe. So no matter how old he was, he was always her ‘Bambi’. James loved her smile, her cooking, her hugs, the way she smelt of lavender and the way she would wear the most bizarre outfits. She was different and she did not try to hide it, James both adored and envied that.

That night he also lost his mother.

James was shattered. It felt as though the floor beneath him had collapsed and disappeared. He was lost. A fumbling baby deer in the dark woods without its mother. He could not watch Bambi anymore and he could no longer stand the smell of lavender.

After the car accident, James became a recluse. With his new prosthetic arm he struggled to do basic everyday activities let alone play football, so he quit. He distanced himself from the popular kids, from Steve and even his own dad. James was no longer interested in keeping up the act of the “cool kid” and the “best friend of Steve Rogers”. He no longer cared for his reputation and he certainly did not have time for fake friends. Whenever he saw them he thought about the way his mother disliked them and It made him loathe them. James went from interacting with Steve every day to not at all very quickly. At first he felt guilty, Steve had looked so hurt and confused. The tall boy would try to approach James, call him “Buck” and ask if he was okay. Tell him he was sorry about his arm and then about his mother, as though losing his arm was more important. Deep down James knew Steve did not mean that, but he was not exactly in a great state of mind at that moment. As time went by, not having Steve simply became a reality. He missed him, the old him, the 10 year old him. But it was okay. Steve was able to easily adjust without James in his life. He seemed to grow more boisterous, which was strange. Slowly becoming more confident and less polite. James did not care. He did not pay attention to a lot of his peers anymore. For a while he was alone, sitting by himself at lunch for weeks. Until one day, the famous Tony Stark transferred to their school.

Everyone knew about Tony Stark. His dad was the world famous inventor and he was rich. Everyone knew he was coming for about a month before he even came. The excited chatters filled the hallways. They gossiped about what he was like, what the tabloids said about him, what parties he had held and may hold in the future and they even tried to predict who he might date. Tony could have easily been very popular and he certainly was at his old school. But just like James, he had a traumatic experience that had been a real eye opener and he was no longer interested in being taken advantage of for his fame or money. He had major trust issues and no time for fake friends.

However, for some reason, out of nowhere, Tony decided to attach himself to James.

It was lunchtime on a Monday. James was sitting outside, a far distance from the other students, sipping his water and scrolling on his phone, when suddenly a heavy bag was dropped carelessly on his table. James jumped and fumbled with his phone before snapping his head up at the intruder. It was Tony. Dressed in an obnoxiously bright, patterned, oversized button up shirt and tight black jeans. His hair was a styled mess of dark curls and he wore an expensive pair of black sunglasses with a smug smirk to match.

“Howdy Partner!” Tony greeted brightly, before plonking down on the seat opposite James.

James simply stared at him before rolling his eyes and continuing scrolling.

They stayed in silence for the whole of lunch. Tony ended up pulling out some extravagant metal construction and started fiddling around with it. It was a strangely comfortable silence. Neither of them expected anything from each other. And when the bell rang to signal them back to class, Tony bid James a farewell and James actually replied this time. From then on, they spent every lunch time together in silence.The longer they sat together, the more comfortable they had gotten and slowly they started actually socialising with each other. The conversations between them didn’t last very long, but when they did communicate it was a lot for James to take in. Tony was unique, James hadn’t met a person like him before. He was loud, extremely quirky and did not care what people thought of him. He was affectionate and not afraid of any physical interaction with anyone. He wore bright, eye catching clothing and always had a bounce to his step. He moved like a theatre performer, and spoke like someone who had a severe case of ADHD. James was pretty certain Tony had ADHD.

One day out of nowhere their duo turned into a trio.

“James, darling, meet Bruce. Bruce, babe, meet James.” Tony introduced them easily, he quickly sat down and pulled out his new robotic project before they could even greet each other.

Bruce stood awkwardly, gripping at the sides of his pants anxiously and waiting for James to speak first. He seemed too shy to take a seat, worried that James wouldn’t like having him there. Tony took note of the lack of movement or spoken word happening and looked up from his project, frowning at the both of them in confusion. James huffed out a laugh at his ridiculousness, the boy may be a genius but he sucked at basic social skills.

“Hey Bruce, take a seat!” James spoke gently. And from then onwards, Bruce joined them every lunch.

Tony and Bruce were extremely similar, but also complete opposites. They spoke in what seemed like their own language, full of science equations and lingos that gave James a headache just hearing them. While Tony was loud and carefree, Bruce was quiet and timid. Tony dressed for the back row, Bruce attempted to blend into the background. Their differences, however, did not get in the way of their friendship, James actually believed that they complimented each other quite nicely. Tony’s carefree attitude made Bruce feel a little more confident, while Bruce’s calmness helped keep Tony level headed. The both of them made James feel less lonely. They also made him realise that, apart from Steve, he had never had real friends before. When he was popular it was all fake. There was no loyalty or real support. No one really listened to anyone, they were all so self absorbed and eager to figure out the next huge school scandal.

Tony and Bruce were different. They did not care for reputation, they were not interested in gossip and they actually listened and gave a damn about what the other person had to say. James believed it was because they each had been through something traumatic. They had their eyes opened to the harsh reality that is life and were mature before their years. And they respected each other for it. It was a silent agreement between them, something they knew each other understood without even speaking of it. It felt special.

It was a Friday when their trio grew two more members. This time instead of Tony introducing them, it was Bruce. This was surprising but also something that made Tony look extremely proud. The guy would act like he was Bruce’s parent rather than friend more often than not, which James found amusing and oddly charming.

“Um hey guys! This is uh- Natasha and Clint…” Bruce awkwardly gestured to couple with shaking fingers. Tony smiled brightly and James simply nodded. Bruce took in a rattled breath before continuing, “I’m paired with them for a group assignment and I-uh was wondering if it would be okay if they sat with us?... Just so we can go through what we need to do.... For the uh- assignment…” The poor kid looked so small and terrified. He avoided eye contact and rubbed at his sides, a nervous habit that James had picked up on before.

“Of course they can, Brucie!” Tony exclaimed excitedly as he bounced in his seat. James let out a sigh, Tony was too much sometimes. “A friend of yours, is a friend of ours, right Darling?” Tony continued and directed the last part at James. James raised one eyebrow at the grinning genius and rolled his eyes before turning to Bruce, Natasha and Clint.

“Sure thing, Bruce.”

Bruce sent him back a small smile before sliding into the seat next to Tony, who gave his shoulder an affectionate bump before going back to work on a blueprint he was scribbling on. Nerd. And that is how Natasha and Clint joined their little group. The two were attached at the hip. They would whisper shit in each other's ears and give each other looks as though they had telekinesis powers. Natasha was quiet and scary, kind of similar to James, while Clint was goofy and loud like Tony. The two of them were kind of intense and mysterious, as though they were hiding a dangerous secret. They both also had a past like the original trio, and although Clint was on the football team and Natasha was on the soccer team, they also did not care for highschool reputation or their fellow peers. They both could have easily been popular, but just like Tony, they chose not to.

It was a strange and unfamiliar feeling having friends again, or maybe it was having a real friend group for the first time. James had felt extremely disoriented for the first week but soon enough grew more comfortable. Tony had a talent of making everyone feel comfortable, he was so welcoming. The famous boy had met so many people already at his young age, through Stark Industries, charity galas, science expos and numerous overseas trips. He had met so many different souls and been exposed to such a range of cultures that he was open to anything. Tony was comfortable with different, unlike a lot of people in their close minded, brainwashed school. It was at this point that James realised he may have had a crush on the genius. He was just so intriguing, so exciting and so pretty. This lead James into a depressive episode, where he was just so confused about his sexuality and felt so insecure and just plain stupid. He, of course, told no one.

Speaking of Tony Stark, James was the first one sitting at their designated lunch table and was pulling out his phone when the usually chipper boy arrived with a fowl look upon his face. Tony angrily shoved his bag on the floor before dropping into his usual seat and crossing his arms with a huff. His eyes were glued to the table and he seemed to be deep in thought.

“Do you want to talk about it?” James asked with a raised eyebrow and a slight smirk.

Tony sighed and deflated, his frown melting from his face and his arms untangling. The boy reached into his bag and he pulled out a book, discarding it carelessly onto the table.

‘The Fault in Our Stars’ by John Green.

James waited for Tony to elaborate, but the boy just gave him a pointed look.

“Um.. So I didn’t exactly take you as a John Green fan..” James snickered. But Tony wasn’t laughing along.

“This book is lame, James.” Tony responded bluntly. “This fantasy book is not helpful for me in any way.”

“Alright.. Then why is-”

“ _Miss_ _Bancroft_ believes that I need to do more reading… I told her ‘Miss, I read everyday’ but apparently reading articles and science textbooks that are actually helpful for me and my bright future is not actual reading according to _Miss_ _Bancroft_.” Tony ranted, his italian heritage showing through his vigorous hand movements.

“So she gave me this book and told me that I am to read it. I was like ‘sure thing, ma’am’ fully intending _not_ to read it until she tells me that she will be quizzing me on each chapter each week. I am appalled!” He finishes by crossing his arms and glaring at the god forsaken book.

James smiled, then laughed. This kid was ridiculous. His response had Tony direct his glare towards him, but it didn't last long and soon Tony was grinning.

“Yeah ha ha very funny.” Tony smiled as he shoved the book back in his bag, but not before Natasha, who had just decided to join them, caught sight of it.

“Ew since when were you a cringey 13 year old girl?” She snarked, her face scrunched up in disgust.

“First of all that is gender stereotyping, secondly I am just as disgusted as you are.” Tony responded whilst dropping his bag to the floor. “I am being forced against my will to read it and it is a tragedy.”

That was when Clint and Bruce finally arrived, both holding sheets of paper with red scribbles graffitied all over it.

“Guess which badass group got an A+ on their assignment? Our group did! And to celebrate you all get to come to my football game Friday night!” Clint boasted as he and Bruce took their seats.

At the mention of going to a football game, Tony cringed, Bruce anxiously looked down at his lap and James winced. Natasha just took a sip of her drink, she was already planning on going.

“No offence, Clinton. I would love to be there for you, buddy, but unfortunately I have better things to do than watch buffoons throw around a dumb ball and get congratulated for it.” Tony sassed.

“What like reading ‘The Fault in Our Stars?’” Natasha retorted with a smirk.

“No.. like science, or sleeping! I would much rather spend my Friday night sleeping than going to a football game!”

“Understandable, but it happens to also be my birthday Friday and so you have to come to the football game. Afterwards I’ll treat you all to dinner.” Clint smiled casually as he pulled out his lunch.

“Ugh fine. I’ll go but don’t expect me to be the perfect little cheerleader, I know shit all about football.” Tony rolled his eyes, before turning to James. “What about you, darling? You into football?”

James froze, frowned down at his prosthetic arm and then looked up. “Nope. Bruce?” He quickly directed the topic towards someone else.

“Uh.. my dad likes football?” Bruce offered.

Clint let out a deep, loud sigh, “all you guys gotta do is sit, look pretty, cheer when people cheer, cry when they cry and then get excited when it’s over.”

Before any of them could respond the shrill ring of the bell signalling the end of lunch interrupted them.

“Welp, Bruce and I have science so we will catch up with you losers tomorrow, toodle loo!” And with that said, Tony was up and out, dragging poor Bruce along with him.

The rest just shook their head and James let out a chuckle. They all went their separate ways.

**Author's Note:**

> Wowza! So I wrote this during quarantine instead of doing any of my many assignments from university! I hope you like it! It’s just the introduction but I have many ideas for future chapters and I’m pretty excited.
> 
> This is my first ever story on this site, so if I make any mistakes please go easy on me!


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